Posted on 12/20/2007 6:39:06 PM PST by Norman Bates
There are times in this nations history so perilous that they cry out for a steady, experienced leader, a person so trusted that we would put the fate of this country in his hands.
This is one of those times, and Sen. John McCain is that person.
He has a brand of courage that is rare in the public arena these days - a courage forged in part by those years spent as a prisoner of war in Vietnam and in part by more than two decades of fighting for what he believes in on the floor of the U.S. Senate.
In an age when too many candidates are driven by polls and focus groups, fashioning and re-fashioning their core beliefs, McCain is a man of unwavering conviction and integrity. His values, his beliefs, his goals are what they were when he first entered public life, what they were in 2000 and what they will be a decade from now.
And those goals include a safe and secure America, a country that is respected around the world for honoring its commitments, for encouraging and respecting the rule of law whether in Baghdad or Guantanamo Bay.
During a meeting with Herald editors and reporters Wednesday McCain was accompanied by James Woolsey, a man who has served in two Republican and two Democratic administrations, including a stint as CIA director under President Clinton. If Woolseys presence was designed to send a message - well, message received, at a number of levels. Yes, McCain is well regarded by those who share his commitment to national security. And, yes again, there are those who operate above the partisan fray.
The two men were passionately critical of the latest National Intelligence Estimates that downplayed the danger of a nuclear Iran.
Its not up to the intelligence community to make policy, McCain said, adding that their conclusions about Irans future nuclear capability is not substaniated by the facts on the ground.
The war in Iraq has, of course, loomed large both in the national consciousness and as a campaign issue. McCain knew that the administrations early military strategy was not enough to get the job done. And he was among the first to sign on to this years troop surge as devised by Gen. David Petraeus.
John Edwards used to call it the McCain surge. He doesnt anymore, McCain said. Al-Qaeda isnt defeated in Iraq, but its on the run.
But John McCains expertise doesnt begin and end with national security. He is now a firm believer in the power of tax cuts as a driver of the economy. He saw the Bush tax cuts work and vows to make them permanent. He also supports an end to the alternative minimum tax, which has managed to snare far too many middle class families in its unindexed grip. This week the Congress moved to increase the exemption for the middle class, but thats merely a one-year fix.
McCains name, of course, is also synonymous with immigration reform - the kind of real reform that will both safeguard our borders and provide a path to citizenship - not amnesty - for the 12 million illegal aliens who now live among us. The senator freely acknowledges that his support for immigration reform threatened to jettison his presidential candidacy.
What we miscalculated was the total mistrust in government, McCain told the Herald. They didnt believe we could secure the borders. But this isnt 1986. The technology has changed. But more than that, it takes commitment. A McCain administration would have that commitment.
On immigration reform, on tax reform, on campaign reform McCain has proven time and time again that he has the ability to reach across that increasingly wide partisan divide and make things happen.
This week Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), who was himself on the Democratic presidential ticket in 2000, took the unprecedented step of endorsing McCain in the upcoming Republican primaries. He did so with these words:
In this critical election, no one should let party lines be a barrier to choosing the person we believe is best qualified to lead our nation forward. The problems that confront us are too great, the threats we face too real, and the opportunities we have too exciting for us to play partisan politics with the presidency.
The Boston Herald agrees. And so this newspaper too will break with its decades-old tradition of endorsing candidates in both the Republican and Democratic primaries. In doing so we also address our words particularly to those millions of independent voters here, in New Hampshire and around the nation who can choose to cast their ballot in either party primary.
The choice this year is indeed clear. John McCain should be the next president of the United States and the Boston Herald is proud to endorse his candidacy.
I truly hope that the exact same things can also be said about Mike Huckabee and Rudy Giuliani! I truly don’t see either Mike Huckabee or Rudy Giuliani being the final choice for the GOP for POTUS.
[McCain is the only candidate who could be confused with being a rat.]
McCain, a Better Bob Dole.
Florida alone has 25
Aside from that, we are just going to have to disagree on your post, but have a Merry Christmas anyway! :)
Hillary does! :)
She won't shut up about it...
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/mark-finkelstein/2007/12/17/cackles-evasions
That would be true if his last name were Clinton or if (D) followed his name. But remember the 40 year old DUI in 2000? Bush almost lost because of it. Much less substance there than Keating 5.
Well Norman, the folks at the Heritage foundation took a look at what Senator Kennedy was proposing an guess what? That’s precisely what would and will end up happening. Twenty to forty million new “Americans” who broke the law to enter the country and who will be rewarded for it.
Florida has 27. But who’s counting? :)
Merry Christmas!
The difference is the DUI had not been vetted and Keating has.
McCain - Liberal endorsed (Lieberman, news rags), RINO approved.
He sure is racking up the ‘establishment’ non-conservative endorsements.
What wins him such plaudits? His signing up for Goronic CO2 cap-and-trade and globaloney fears? His work at undercutting conservatives on Judges (gang of 14), taxes (voting against Bush tax cuts), regulation (CFR), immigration (McCain-Kennedy “amnesty aint amnesty”)? Or his years of sucking up to the media at a cost of conservatives?
Except for budget/spending, where he is solid, McCain has had a very bad habit of joining liberal Democrats on key issue after key issue, and poking the finger in the eyes of conservatives. The number 1 issue where McCain is dreadfully wrong is immigration, but CFR is perhaps the worst bill in the past 10 years, and the #1 reason it passed is John McCain.
Fine if he’s running for “centrist senior statesman”, but these endorsements practically scream out - “thank God we can endorse a RINO.”
” we also address our words particularly to those millions of independent voters here, in New Hampshire and around the nation who can choose to cast their ballot in either party primary.” ....
Translation: INDEPENDENTS, PLEASE F*** WITH THE REPUBLICAN PARTY BY VOTING MCCAIN. THAT’LL SHOW SHOW EVIIIL CONSERVATIVES. LEAVE THE DEMOCRATS ALONE THIS YEAR.
‘Apparently the Herald is not endorsing any Democrat for their primary and is instead choosing to endorse John McCain fully for President.’
Given McCain spent a full week considering being Kerry’s running mate in 04, its not surprising.
The best home-town endorsement that Romney has is that the liberal rag the Boston Globe hates him. It's a true sign of how good Romney could be for conservatives when that happens.
McCain's MSM endorsements is just another reminder that he's been an MSM lapdog for years, and for years used that position to pummel and harm conservatives.
“This is the Heralds Republican primary endorsement. I think they may endorse Huckabee for the Democrat primary.”
ROFLMAO.
Really, McCain should run in the Democrat primary.
Not only would he clean up there, they could rerun the 2004 “ready for duty” schtick that Kerry had and it would work.
“The Boston Globe and Boston Herald has had a hate/hate relationship with Gov Romney for a long time. There were many contentious press conferences with Romneys spokespeople and snarly commentaries from the Boston TV political pundits.”
You mean like when a journalist was demanding an answer out of Romney and saying “I represent the people” and Romney smacked him down hard?
Good clip.
Whenever I hear the phrase "democrat reach" I grab my wallet! Some of us don't want the liberal regulatory policies and baggage that comes with that 'independent and democrat reach'.
We dont want McCain-Lieberman reaching into our energy bills and putting carbon taxes and cap-and-trade costs, and we dont want the reach of 12 million yesterday's illegals becoming tomorrows Democrat voters due to McCain's amnesty.
No sale.
http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/122007_release_web.pdf
Question 27:
Does Lieberman’s endorsement make you more or less likely to vote for McCain?
(more / less / no diff.)
Republicans 25% / 10% / 62%
Democrats 12% / 24% / 59%
Independents 15% / 12% / 69%
You might also consider that on the most important issue - Iraq - McCain is dead right.
“Only until he gets the nomination. As soon as he is the nominee, they will take him down with his participation in the Savings and Loan scandals in the 80’s. McCain barely avoided indictment and his participation was as smelly as it gets. McCain, Paul and Huckabee are safe candidates for the Old Media. None of them can possibly win. So they get all the positive press during the primaries.”
Good points, but you have to understand what McCain has done to innoculate himself and overcome that scandal - he became a ‘reformer’. This is why the media loves him. McCain has been doing 20 years of penance for his Charles Keating sins by engaging in liberal reform policies, like CFR, like CO2, like immigration.
Nevertheless, dont underestimate the MSM’s ability to make a mountain out of a molehill.
What is with you? I wonder what you think of Ronald Reagan. You didn’t actually think he acheived two landslides with conservatives alone, did you? He had a large chunk of democrats and a majority of independents as well. Just like McCain can take.
I wish that right now a couple of the heavy hitters would team up and agree to share the ticket.
And by heavy hitters, I mean Thompson, McCain, or, as VEEP
ONLY, Julie Rudiani.
I just think if they did it now, they’d be a shoo in for the nomination, and the right combo would kick Hill’s backside so bad she wouldn’t sit down till 2010 or so.
“McCain is strong on national security - which is going to increasingly be the focus in the election because it pertains to the sheer survival of this nation.”
I actually think the OPPOSITE is happening.
Sicne Bush and his surge have turned around Iraq, the MSM has decided to put Iraq to back pages and move on to other topics, and the voters likewise are not going to be as concerned about it as they were in 2004 and 2006. By the time the next President gets in office, Bush and our military will have Iraq and Afghanistan stable enough for the next President to continue to draw down our commitments while meeting security goals an acheiving victory.
History will record that Bush will have ‘won the war’ in Iraq by end of 2008.
We need a President who is good on the GWOT (eg cross Huckabee off the list, and a reason to say NO to Obama or any Democrat), but IMHO it wont be the #1 issue.
Economy will be #1.
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